After a typical hostel breakfast (rolls, butter, jam, cheese, juice and coffee), we pumped our tires and headed out to join La Bicycleta Verde for a tour of Santiago. I got my first flat and borrowed a lime green city bike. Our guides, James and Daniella, did a great job of presenting the city. James, born in Amsterdam, was a bit more open about the former political issues. Chilean families don't discuss politics.
We saw Pablo Neruda's house. While not everyone in Chile agrees with his politics, they admire his passion and love of Chile.
We had lunch at the seafood market. Karen mistakenly ordered cold (really cold) seafood soup. I thought I ordered seafood paella but got hot seafood soup. Mid meal, Karen traded dishes with me and was not co-operative when I suggested she return mine. The hot seafood is great. We ate at a small restaurant after being cajoled by its doorman, Juan. When I told him my name, he said, "Mi hermano!"
Other ride participants were Antoine and Paolina. She is a graphic artist who designs bicycle pictures for ads and brochures. Antione is a young guy who has just opened a bike design and production company. Like a good number of well educated Chleans, they spoke english well.
This afternoon we made reservations at Casa Chueca just outside Talca (250 km south of Santiago) and then rode 6 km to a bus terminal to determine the schedule for tomorrow. Sometimes you have to ride your bike on sidewalks rather than streets. The last 3 kms were on paved cycling route, a nice change.
We will leave Santiago at 10:30 AM and arrive at 1:30 PM.
We then rode to a second terminal to get information about buses to Argentina. We will head there on Saturday. On Friday, we will return to Santiago and the same hostel.
We returned to Galido for supper. Tonight's supper was grilled fish for Karen and barbequed chicken for me. Both were great.
We finished the day with tea, chocolate and packing.
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